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We’re getting rid of advertisers and digging back to our roots: community-based, community-built, and determinedly non-commercial. If you want to highlight local events or innovations, expand your skills, give back, or explore any other goal or idea, we’re here to support you with networking and backing from the community.

In recent years, we’ve seen our rich universe of diverse, creative blogs and sites implode—leaving fewer and fewer channels available to new voices. As more content centralizes into a handful of all-powerful networks, there’s a dreary sameness in perspective and presentation.

This creeping monopolization is a sad echo of how media worked in the 20th century. It doesn’t reflect 21st century diversity and empowerment. It’s not the web’s promise. It’s not how it’s supposed to be.

We have no beef with networks like Twitter or Facebook, or with companies like Apple and Google that currently dominate our communal digital space. We just think diversity is about expanding and speaking up—not consolidating and homogenizing.

Define the next decade with us

A List Apart has always been more than a publisher; we’re an ecosystem of practitioners who are passionate about our craft. We’ll keep finding and sharing great articles—we’re just taking it to the next level.

Two ways to pitch in

If you want to put your favorite skills to use, expand your professional experience, or have a goal or idea for A List Apart, we’re here to listen. And if you’d like to support us in some other way, we’ve made that easy, too. Currently there are two ways to pitch in:

Teams

Use the email address at the bottom of this message to let us know if you want to create or join a team that “owns” some area you’re interested in, such as:

Design & development

Community service and local meetups/events

Education and entry level/advanced resources

Book/resource coverage and reviews

Editorial: Editing, acquisitions, and email

Social media, SEO, or marketing

Project management

Your suggestions!

Membership

If you don’t have time to volunteer but still want to support us, you’ll be able to offer other forms of help—for instance, making a small, monthly donation via Patreon to help cover our expenses. This will also grant you membership benefits. (Details at Patreon.)

Sharing is caring

More about all of this will soon be revealed. Meantime, if you have feedback or questions about what we’ve shared so far, kindly fire away in the comments. (Hey, how’s that for an idea? A comments section that’s positive and not divisive.)

As we imagine the next 20 years of web design, there’s a lot we don’t know—other than a strong hunch that accessible, semantic HTML will continue to be the bedrock of it all. But one thing we do know: the web, in its reach and its potential, is too important to be left to the mercies of a few powerful companies, however well-intended they may be.

If you’ve a mind to do so, please help us keep our little corner of the indie web alive and well. Help the open web stay open. Help us build the future. To get involved, email us at contact@alistapart.com—or share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

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